There was a guy who lived happily in his own world, unaware of anything about cycling. One day he was bitten by "Biking/Cycling Bug", from then things changed.
Before getting into cycling i used to make fun of cyclists, saying these guys don't have any work, they get some fancy bikes and put on some cycling gear and go around. This was discussed on many occasions with family and friends. Little i know that i will be one among them some day :), happy to be part of this community.
All started with my first visit to decathlon bannerghatta road in the month of April 2013, was checking out the store and came across cycling dept. Saw people riding bikes inside store, got curious and thought of trying my hands on one. Sales staff was happy to lend me a rockrider 5.0 to ride, post the ride checked price of it which was around 10k. Next i tried RR 5.1, 5.2, 5.3.... every time i rode a bike it was a different experience. Price and riding experience were directly proportional. when i took my first ride my budget was 10k, by the time i was out of store it grew one fold to 20k. Came out thinking i will buy a bike for around 20k.
Now the research started, thanks to google which routed me to bikezone. I was mesmarized to see so many active discussions and "biking buzz" was full on. Red many posts and peoples experiance etc etc, happen to land at this post
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this post was an eyeopener, understood many things most of questions were answered. After this i decided to got with hybrid or MTB.
Further research led me to Track and Trail store in kormangala, guys over there showed me schwin bikes and offered me to give some discount on 2012 models. I was happy riding experiance on these bike was beeter than RR, now mt budget took jump and i was ok with 25k.
Next pit stop was at RR cycles, boy i was dumb struck to see so many bikes and so many options. After spending few hours there, shortlisted two models Mangoose Tyax comp and Cannondale Trail 5 2012 model. Some what I liked Cannondale it was a white and blue combination, it was attracting me but it was for 38k rakesh offered me a discount of 6k and some accessores.
Next store on my list was BOTS, wow it was a different experiance from above two. Prem was very friendly spoke to me nicely and gathered my requirement and suggested me a hybrid. Guess what he offered me a test ride of bergmont hybrid (in my mind i was thing test ride !!!! for cycle !!! ). I must thank them that was really an eye opener, tried my hands on different models of trek and bergmont (both hybrid and MTB).
In a weeks time lot of research was done paid number of visits to various bike shops and tested few bikes. Post all this process, came to a conclusion MTB is what i need. Reason behind, i want to explore trail riding and do some "Adventure" and for "THE MACHO LOOK".
Almost had finalized with cannodale after stretching my budget to 32k, only purchase was pending. Before i could do a purchase felt like asking some one who is already into it, the only guy in my friends list on FB who is into cycling was Nagraj Harsha(Iron man fame). Fortunately he also had a Cannondale back in 2011, which i had seen from his pics and blog. As they say "Naik kaam mein deri kyun" sent him a message, below is the same
April 11th, 12:12am
looking for a response from you thanks in advance.
Guess what i never got a response for this message, i thought this guy forgot me hence he is not replying.
took his number from fb and called him. He answered the call and after talking to him for some time, he asked me why you want to go for these bikes ? I said it looks good and nice color. He explained me that components and frame are the two things to look for in a bike. Further suggested me to take a look at merida and KHS bikes. Also discussed this with Marghoob Hasan and got some pointers.
Search for Merida and KHS bikes led me to Wheelsports, spoke to venky and got his address. Read a lot about venky on Bike Zone and his dscounts :D. Finally landed at wheelsports, by now had gained awareness on bike components, derailleur models etc. Discussed with him and told my requirement, even before going to shop i had KHS 500 in my mind which had some better components than canondale.
He showed me different models of Merida, Scott and KHS. when asked for KHS 500 to my badluck it was out of stock for my size. There was a KHS 1000, that was a love at first sight moment for me :D. There he was waiting to interrupt me from my dream and bring it to reality he is none other than "Mr. Price Tag" he displayed a 5 figure number of 44,000/- (price of hero honda splendor few years back). Here she is
Venky was generous enough to offer me some discount and after thinking for a long time, paid him 500/- as advance for a KHS 1000 19" Black color model (as it was the last bike of the lot) and assured him to be back a week later as i was waiting for my credit card billing cycle to complete ;).
There was no option to test ride the bike, couple of days later paid a visit to ProCycle in Indirangar. Ajay was very handy in showing me around different bikes and taking measurements and took KHS 1000 out for a spin. Boy I fell in love with her again, came back happily not repenting my decission to go with it.
So bike is finalized what next, that was not the end..... it was a beginning of new and never ending horizon, which started with accessories. First thing i bought was Lock (even before getting the bike), next i got glove, helmet, water bottel. All these were waiting for arrival of the beast.
The D day arrived 6th May 2013, called harsha a day before to check if he is free and accompany me. He said yes we synced and met at dairy circle from there headed to wheelsports. We got new boxed bike, Naveen Raj assembled it, venky suggested to buy a floor pump which i obliged and got one.
Mean while nagaraj was checking some bib shorts ( by now i had read a lot about bib's and there advantages, also i had checked some bibs at decathlon and online), there was a 3/4th bib from campagnolo. Tried and bought that aswell.
Finally beast arrived home on 7th May :).
Took her on ride in around home for couple of days, went to my sisters place(hegde nagar), decathlon(sarjapur, white field, bannerghatta road).
Two weeks down the line it was time to test the bike what it is meant for, yes Mountain Biking. When we say off road first place comes to your mind near Bangalore is turahalli. Here are some pics
Tried Banneghatta Trail as well with Decathlon Banneghatta Guys, .
on both the trails she was awesome, she dint let me go down. I felt each penny spent is worth, it was amazing. You need to go on trail to feel that awesome feeling, midst of forest away from city. Its just you and your bike, you will be alert all the time on track, a small mistake can lead to a crash. I can just go on telling so many things, i suggest you to take your bike out and experience yourself.
Keep watching this space for my next trail ride :)
